SEASONS

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

THE PLANETS

Twilight in Melbourne, looking towards the West. The trio of planets visible in the sky are Venus, brightest and closest to the horizon, Mercury on the left above and Jupiter on the right above. Venus is the bringer of peace, Jupiter the bringer of jollity and Mercury, the winged messenger, hopefully bringing glad tidings...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

CITY PIGEON

A neighbour feeds pigeons in her front yard and this gets her into trouble with some people who regard the birds as vermin. The birds fly up to the roof whenever an argument happens and appear bemused by the whole situation. When it's all over, they come down and feast on the food the neighbour continues to put out for them, despite any objections raised by some. Are you a pigeon-hater or a pigeon-lover?

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

PRICKLY PEAR

Opuntia, commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as tuna (fruit), sabra, nopal ('paddle', plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus.

The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew and could be propagated by rooting its leaves. The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia (O. ficus-indica), which is seen here.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

CORREA

Correa 'Ray's Tangerine' (Tangerine Australian Fuchsia) is slow growing compact evergreen shrub growing eventually to about 0.5-1 meter by only a bit wider, with closely paired shiny dark 2 cm long green leaves. The vibrant 4 cm long orange bell-shaped flowers are on display during the Autumn through Winter.

Grow in sun or partial shade, with good drainage. Tolerant of drought but best with regular water during dry periods. Hardy to about -7˚C. In the Appendix to the Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants authors Rodger Elliot and David Jones note that it is a hybrid between "Correa pulchella and a broad-bellied selection of C. reflexa var. scabridula from Carpenter Rocks, SA".

It is an Australian fuchsia that stays small and has bright, shiny, dark-green leaves and vibrant orange flowers that bloom in Autumn and Winter.  It grows well in containers or in-ground in gardens.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PARKLANDS PATH

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

BORDERS OPEN AGAIN!

View down the Yarra River towards the East and Melbourne City. The international borders opened to vaccinated tourists this week and theoretically, overseas visitors will be arriving in droves from now on. The City is still quiet though and the view serene...

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

SUMMER LINGERS

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

BUG

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme

HETEROCHROMIA

Although it’s quite rare, a condition called heterochromia can result in cats having two different coloured eyes. These odd-eyed cats typically have one iris (the coloured part of the eye) that’s blue while the other is either green, brown or yellow. Heterochromia can also affect dogs and even humans too.

It isn’t clear what causes some cats to develop heterochromia and others not. It appears to be a developmental condition and while there could be a genetic link, nobody really knows what causes this strange and beautiful phenomenon. While some breeds of cat seem more likely to develop heterochromia than others, it can happen to any cat.

Luckily, heterochromia doesn’t have any impact on a cat’s ability to see, and it doesn’t seem to affect their hearing either. Although white cats with one or two blue eyes are more likely to be deaf, non-white cats with one blue eye do not appear to have a higher risk of deafness than normal.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme